ISRAEL calls it "Pallywood"; a public sympathy exercise in which scenes of apparently wounded Palestinians are in fact staged for the cameras.

The escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas has seen social and traditional media used to influence world opinion like never before, with both sides trying to gain the upper hand in the public relations war.

A pro-Israeli website, “HonestReporting.com", has accused BBC News of broadcasting footage of an apparently wounded Palestinian civilian being carried to safety for treatment. But shortly after the man is pictured walking around, presumably uninjured.

"HonestReporting" claims the footage is a classic case of “Pallywood,” which it describes as faked or exaggerated disaster scenes used to garner public sympathy.

Hundreds of rockets are flying back and forth through the sky above Israel and Gaza.

Militants have defied an Israeli bombing campaign, firing off volleys of rockets which killed three Israelis and set off air raid sirens in the city of Tel Aviv for the first time since the 1991 Gulf War.

The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said more than 300 rockets had been fired at Israel in the past few days, with one rocket hitting the central city Rishon Lezion, about 60 km from the Gaza Strip.

The Iron Dome defense system fires to intercept incoming missiles from Gaza in the port town of Ashdod, yesterday. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the IDF is prepared for a "significant widening" of its operation in the Gaza Strip. Picture: APSource: AP

As Palestinian deaths from relentless air strikes rose to 19 on Thursday, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak gave the go-ahead for 30,000 reservists to be called up, with the army saying it was "in the process of expanding the campaign".

Among the Palestinians killed on Thursday were five militants, two children and a teacher at a United Nations-run school, medics and a UN official said.

Two brothers were among dead but it was not immediately clear if they were militants or civilians.

The Israeli air defence system, the Iron Dome, kicked into gear, sending missiles into the skies to intercept any more intrusions into the Jewish State's airspace.

Israel's aerial and naval bombardment of the Gaza strip began after a recent wave of rocket attacks from there. IDF fighter jets assasinated on Hamas' top military commander on Wednesday, deepening the instability gripping the Middle East.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said today: "We urge both Hamas and Israel to exercise restraint and protect the lives of civilians."

SITUATION DETEORIORATED RAPIDLY:

For the past four years, Israel and Hamas have largely observed an informal truce. But in recent weeks, the calm has unraveled in a bout of rocket attacks from Gaza and retaliatory Israeli air strikes.

From Israel's perspective, Hamas escalated the situation with two specific attacks in recent days: an explosion in a tunnel along the Israeli border and a missile attack on an Israeli military jeep that seriously wounded four soldiers.

Wednesday's killing of Jabari was an indication they were serious. Israel has refrained from such attacks, which have drawn international condemnations, since its January 2009 offensive in Gaza.

Hamas officials had brushed off the Israeli threats, and Jabari, contrary to form, was driving in broad daylight when his vehicle was hit.

Palestinian mourners carry the body of Hamas' top military commander Ahmed Jabari, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Wednesday, during his funeral in Gaza City yesterday. The assault killed 10 other Palestinians, including two children and seven militants. Picture: Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

The Hamas military chief had long topped Israel's most-wanted list, blamed for masterminding a string of deadly attacks that including a bold, cross-border kidnapping of an Israeli soldier in 2006.

He also was believed to be a key player in Hamas' takeover of Gaza in 2007 from a rival Palestinian faction, the Western-backed Fatah movement.

The Israeli military released a black-and-white video of the Jabari air strike, showing a sedan moving slowly along a road before going up in flames in an explosion so powerful that a large chunk of the vehicle flew high into the air.

Crowds of people and security personnel rushed to the scene of the strike, trying to put out the fire that had engulfed the car and left it a charred shell.

Plumes of black smoke wafted into Gaza City's skies following other air strikes. Ambulance sirens blared as people ran in panic in the streets and militants fired angrily into the air.

A Palestinian child holds a window frame in the wreckage of a home destroyed in the conflict.Source: AP

An Israeli Zaka emergency services volunteer works in an apartment which was hit by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants, killing three people yesterday in Kiryat Malachi, Israel. Picture: Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

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